Indians face tougher task this time

It’s the second straight year that the Aquin and Dakota girls basketball teams will square off in a regional final, but tonight’s title game certainly has a different feel than that of a season ago.

By Adam J. Kradle

Journal Standard

By Adam J. Kradle

Posted Feb. 8, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 8, 2013 at 7:04 AM

By Adam J. Kradle

Posted Feb. 8, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 8, 2013 at 7:04 AM

Freeport, Ill.

It’s the second straight year that the Aquin and Dakota girls basketball teams will square off in a regional final, but tonight’s title game certainly has a different feel than that of a season ago.

For one, last year when the Indians and Bulldogs went at for the Eastland Regional championship, both teams were significantly closer to being equals on the court. This year Aquin appears to be at least a step or two ahead of everyone, including Dakota, which it blew out in the teams’ most recent meeting in Freeport.

Last season saw the Indians beat the Bulldogs for the conference title, which proved that they were capable of doing so again in the postseason.

This time around, Dakota is happy just to get to the final and have a chance at playing the defending state champs again.

“There’s no pressure on us,” Dakota coach Kevin Cline said.

“Last year I was nervous as heck because he had just beaten them 10 days or so before and we were both real good teams and there was a lot of pressure on both of us. This year, we’re stress free. My kids are just happy as can be. We’ve talked the last few weeks about ‘let’s get to Friday’ and for us it almost feels like we’ve won something.”

The Indians know that simply getting to the final won’t earn them a plaque, and that getting one will take a flawless performance against a dominant team that hasn’t lost since early December.

“It’s going to take perfection,” Cline said. “The odds of them having a real bad game are slim to none so you have to hope they just have a mediocre night and then you just have to play awesome.

“You have to take care of the ball. You have to make easy shots. You have to make free throws. Those little things like boxing out become huge.”

Dakota — and every other team — knows that it won’t be able to stop Arizona State bound senior Sophie Brunner. Of perhaps bigger concern for the Indians now is trying to figure out what they can do to slow down the solid group of players that have developed around her.

“You’re not going to stop Sophie,” Cline said. “You can throw all the junk defenses you want and maybe you contain her to human statistics but the bottom line is they’re too good around her. They have three great 3-point shooters on the floor around her so when you’ve got a shooter on each wing and a shooter on the top and Sophie in the middle, what do you do?